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This thread is for questions about the Full Metal Panic anime, novels or manga. Please keep discussion about episodes in the relevant threads, the purpose of this thread is to ask questions that can actually be answered as facts from the anime, novels or manga.

Before you post in this thread, please read the Information and FAQs regarding FMP sticky to ensure your questions hasn’t already been answered. Please also search this forum to make sure a thread doesn’t already exist.

Remember all three series of FMP (as well as the OVA) have now been licensed.

Full Metal Panic! [FMP!] - Licensed

Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu [FMP?Fumoffu] - Licensed

Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid [FMP! TSR] - Licensed

Full Metal Panic OVA [FMP OVA] - Licensed

Therefore, the following posts are no longer allowed:

Asking where you can find any FMP downloads.

Discussing FMP fansub groups (past or present).

Asking for help downloading FMP.

Asking for playback help for FMP episodes.

These rules applies to FMP!, FMP?Fumoffu, FMP!TSR or FMP OVA fansubs (in English or any other language) and raws alike.

You still are allowed to discuss the anime, novels and manga, that has not changed but please remember to limit the discussion to the story (discussion threads are still welcome).

Make sure you use spoiler tags if the question might spoil the story for others. Untagged spoilers are risking a ban. If you don't know how to use a spoiler tag, please read the BB Code FAQ.

Ubiquitous and rendundant posts will be deleted. This is a thread to discuss questions and with thorough answers. Anything other than this will be deleted at my discretion.

In simple English: This ain't a chatroom. No simple one-liners or snazzy comments.

And....

The next anime series will come out when it comes out. So until any official statement is made through anime mags, slips of animators' tongues on their blogs, or being posted on Moonphase the answer is: PROBABLY, BUT NO INFO IS OUT YET.

I dunno why Sousoke should be using a glock, when much more superior pistols exist, surely a powerful organisation like mithril would be able to supply better weaponry. Unless that is one of those glocks which can bypass metal detectors and such which i dont think it is

I dunno why Sousoke should be using a glock, when much more superior pistols exist, surely a powerful organisation like mithril would be able to supply better weaponry. Unless that is one of those glocks which can bypass metal detectors and such which i dont think it is

His Glock is not a gun that Mithril provides, it's his handgun of his choice.

Trivia info: in the original novel, Sousuke's handgun is a Glock 19. In the anime versions, his handgun is a Glock 26.

I've got a few questions based on the books. Firstly, do we have definite ages for the cast? I know Souske starts 16 in the anime and it is mentioned later in TSR that he is 17; Kaname, Shinji and Kyouko are presumably the same age. The manga says Tessa is the same age as Kaname's class, but I think one of the translations on Boku-tachi said that she designed the TDD when she was 15. Is she 16 now [TSR timeline] and therefore a little younger than Souske? My main age issues are with Kalinin, Mao and Kurz. I'd like to do a bit of fanfic with Mao and Kurz, but I've had conflicting accounts as to his age. Oh, and does anybody know how old Mardukas is?

Names. I've seen a few sheets of character roughs for the anime that gives the names of the characters in kana script. Now I'm none too great at reading Japanese, but it would seem to me that 'Theresa' was definitely a more logical translation than the standard 'Teletha'. Opinions? Anything definite one way or the other? And why is Kurz's name so often given as 'Kurtz'? In the dub the characters are clearly pronouncing it with a 't', but the same DVD subs it as 'Kurz'. Again, is one more accurate than the other? Are there any other name issues? I know there's been a few ways to spell 'Gates', and Garoun's name seems to be all over the shop.

Nationalities? I read in the other sticky thread that Kurz lived in Japan until he was 14. He must be a gaijin though- is it ever mentioned what nationality his parents were? (I always assumed German, but I'm not sure why). Does he speak any other languages? Exactly what nationality is Souske? Afghani? If so, where did he learn such good Japanese?

On board the TDD, what language are they speaking? Official documents in the anime are written in English. I think somebody once mentioned that Kalinin signs his name to Souske's school documents in Russian? Can anybody confirm this? I wondered if they're meant to be speaking English, since they write in English.

@Pippin4242:
Sousuke is Japanese as far as I know. In TSR they said that he was an assassin sent by the Soviets (i think?) to afghanistan, so he isn't afghani. Plus i recall that they said that Japan was his home country but im not sure.

I've got a few questions based on the books. Firstly, do we have definite ages for the cast? I know Souske starts 16 in the anime and it is mentioned later in TSR that he is 17; Kaname, Shinji and Kyouko are presumably the same age. The manga says Tessa is the same age as Kaname's class, but I think one of the translations on Boku-tachi said that she designed the TDD when she was 15. Is she 16 now [TSR timeline] and therefore a little younger than Souske? My main age issues are with Kalinin, Mao and Kurz. I'd like to do a bit of fanfic with Mao and Kurz, but I've had conflicting accounts as to his age. Oh, and does anybody know how old Mardukas is?

name - approximations - rationaletessa - ~16 - it's quite possible for students to be one year younger/older than "the norm"; in my senior year @ high school, when i was 18, one of my friends had turned 17 just two months before graduationkurz - 20-24 - successfully passed himself off as a research assistant during the onsen trip in fumoffu, yet still interested in high school-age girls (FMP first few episodes) any older and others would note the creepiness (imo at least)mao - 27-32 - her rank as sargeant; also, the fact that her dad had tried to marry her off, something that would happen while she is still relatively young + time as marine PLUS mithrilkalinin - early 50s - extensive battle experience in afghanistan plus appearance and build forms lower limit of late 40s; however, his combat skills and general fitness (FMP behemoth episode) sets the cap around 54.mardukas - mid 40s - commanded a british submarine for a while, plus experience with mithril; the british do not tend to fast-track the careers of submarine men.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pippin4242

Names. I've seen a few sheets of character roughs for the anime that gives the names of the characters in kana script. Now I'm none too great at reading Japanese, but it would seem to me that 'Theresa' was definitely a more logical translation than the standard 'Teletha'. Opinions? Anything definite one way or the other? And why is Kurz's name so often given as 'Kurtz'? In the dub the characters are clearly pronouncing it with a 't', but the same DVD subs it as 'Kurz'. Again, is one more accurate than the other? Are there any other name issues? I know there's been a few ways to spell 'Gates', and Garoun's name seems to be all over the shop.

judging from the tendencies of many anime studios to emphasize the foreigness of non-japanese characters, it may have came down to teletha sounding more "foreign". kurz may be spelled as 'kurtz' for phonetic reasons, along the same lines as the urzu/uruz/wurz debate. as for the "standard" name usage, i guess it would depend upon the audience you are targeting. for general consumption, i suggest you stick with the fansub spellings; i am partial to anime-one (ie, gates and gauron)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pippin4242

Nationalities? I read in the other sticky thread that Kurz lived in Japan until he was 14. He must be a gaijin though- is it ever mentioned what nationality his parents were? (I always assumed German, but I'm not sure why). Does he speak any other languages? Exactly what nationality is Souske? Afghani? If so, where did he learn such good Japanese?

kurz weber is a germanic name; also i believe he spoke german in one instance. from the novels and anime, we are informed that souske is japanese; his being raised afghani occurs after he is captured while acting as a soviet assassin. how and when this move occurs has afaik not been mentioned. his japanese origins may be part of the reason for his language skills; however, considering souske's dedications to his missions, it could be chalked to "being prepared"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pippin4242

On board the TDD, what language are they speaking? Official documents in the anime are written in English. I think somebody once mentioned that Kalinin signs his name to Souske's school documents in Russian? Can anybody confirm this? I wondered if they're meant to be speaking English, since they write in English.

considering the multicultural background of mithril, my gut instinct is that, in real life, they would be speaking english. however, as this is a japanese show... i would avoid bringing it up in any fanfic unless absolutely necessary, as it can lead to confusing situations.

Cheers! You've been a great help. I wouldn't have changed the language for fanfic or anything (that would just get confusing...) I was just wondering if it was anything like Trigun, where everyone appears to speak Japanese but all signs and names are given in Western style, and Vash clearly can't read kanji.

Are there really no definite ages for at least Mao and Kurz? I think Wikipedia or similar gave concrete ages, but they conflicted with other sources. I was sort of wondering where they could have got the impression that there was a definite age for each character if there wasn't. Mind you, I was of the distinct impression that Kurz was 24 until a friend of mine turned round and said she thought he was 19. Weird.

(Speaking of creepiness... episode one. Just look at his face when he sees that photo of twelve-year-old Kaname. He might say "in a few years"... but I'm pretty sure that wasn't what was going through his head. Not that I think he's a paedophile. I see him as more of an aesthete. )

Glad to hear I was right on the German thing. I thought the name was German, but I only studied German for a year, and I can barely remember a word of it. (Der katze ist hinter der table...) Another friend, who took German for five years, is pretty sure Kurz means 'short' in German. I have got to look that up. *giggle* (My shaky memory suggests it might be 'Kurtze,' but the pronounciation is the same...)

And Souske is Japanese. Cool. Thankyou. I just read too much into the Helmajistan episodes I guess. That and he's pretty dark of countenance compared to the students at Jindai.

Thanks again!

Um... one more question... Wikipedia and anime database sources note that Kurz has a girlfriend in hospital whose treatment he pays for. Where does that come from? Is it true? I can't seem to find anything to back it up anywhere (mind you, I haven't been able to even finish watching Fumoffu? yet, so it could be in there for all I know). That wasn't at odds with anything I'd seen in the anime up until Episode Five of TSR (Lovely Sicilly- I am getting obsessed with that episode!) when he waffles on about goddesses and says the moon makes him think that he might spill his hidden love for the goddess of night. He seemed pretty serious there.

Hello. I got into the argument with a friend of mine about true id of Wraith. He told me that Melissa and Wraith are the same person (judgeing by her appearance) but to me she is so not. Could someone who has read the novels please give info on that subject?

Hello. I got into the argument with a friend of mine about true id of Wraith. He told me that Melissa and Wraith are the same person (judgeing by her appearance) but to me she is so not. Could someone who has read the novels please give info on that subject?

if you have seen The Second Raid. Wraith is the chick with the rifle at the end. she is not Mao.

Although Wraith is portrayed at the beginning like an old guy, which was only a disguise that went off after he (she =p) was shot.

And about the Mithril topic, it's an International Military organization, it's been pointed out before in the series, which leads us to believe that their "main" language IS indeed English. They speak Japanese because, wow, it's a Japanese anime =p. Even today, most "International" corps are treated in English, for example Airports. A flight in Italy, between Italian personel, has to be done in English.

Quote:

mao - 27-32 - her rank as sargeant; also, the fact that her dad had tried to marry her off, something that would happen while she is still relatively young + time as marine PLUS mithril

I might be wrong, but I recall Mao saying that, after she graduated from High School, her father wanted to marry her to some guy. That led her to run away on the day of her marriage and join the Marine Corps. The Marines often don't like the Airforce people that much and her father, being an Air-Force officer, would get pretty pissed at her for joining the Navy =P

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Sometimes I look back and think to myself, "how the hell did I manage to screw this up?"